2023-09-11 11:01:09
SUSAN BLAKE studied jazz singing and church organ in Hungary, and has now also learned to play the trombone. The busy musician has been living in Vienna for around 20 years. Jürgen Plank spoke to SUSAN BLAKE regarding Woody Allen, talent shows and Dieter Bohlen as well as regarding the Eurovision song contest, in which she took part in a preliminary round – but the outcome had already been determined before the start. BLAKE also talks regarding the sexism she experienced in the music industry. In the Dixieland genre, BLAKE writes her own songs, allowing for influences such as Gypsy and even Latino rhythms and calling her mixture Dixie-Pop. In September 2023 she will present her second album “Love Shock” at the Metropoldi in Vienna.
How did you get into music? Do you come from a musical family?
Susan Blake: Music has always been in my life. My mother said that I used to sing rather than talk. I always listened to music and always sang. While playing with the dolls, I sang pop songs, “We are the world” and similar songs. So I created my own world for myself. My father loved listening to music, including Hungarian songs, and my grandfather, as a priest, was always involved in music; he was a solo singer in a choir in Budapest. He taught himself to play five instruments, including the church organ. The sensitivity that we musicians have is not far removed from the work of priests.
You subsequently studied church organ yourself.
Susan Blake: Music means to me as it did to my grandfather: spreading love and compassion, telling stories. I learned piano at music school, and thanks to my grandfather I had the key to the church and access to the organ. I was very interested in the sound of the organ and in the summer I kept going to organ courses in Debrecen.
A musical direction you’ve also taken is country music. How did that happen?
Susan Blake: The Citera was my very first instrument, it is a zither that comes from Hungarian folk music. Country music is, so to speak, American folk music and Hungarian folk music also has similarities to jazz because of the pentatonic scale. Before country music, I started playing Dixieland music.
And how did you get into Dixieland music?
Susan Blake: That’s a nice story. I took singing lessons from an old lady at a music school for a year. Then she retired and the new teacher was an opera singer and she was very arrogant. I said to myself: For me, music is sacred. How can someone so arrogant teach music? The new director of the music school introduced me to two new teachers, a banjo player and a piano player, who were part of a local Dixieland band. I sang songs by Barbra Streisand and Whitney Houston with them. I soon played with them at a big festival in Budapest when I was regarding 17 or 18 years old.
“DIXIELAND IS HAPPY, ALSO SAD, LIKE SARCASTIC HUMOR”
What fascinates you regarding Dixieland as a musical style?
Susan Blake: Dixieland is happy, also sad, like sarcastic humor. It’s not for nothing that Woody Allen is a Dixieland clarinetist. He describes his humor in his films: this music fits perfectly with self-irony and sarcasm. I can absolutely identify with that. I have also had difficult phases in my life, and followingwards I can write self-ironic song lyrics that ask, for example: how might I have been so stupid? The greatest form of intelligence is humor. When I play my songs, I shine because I just enjoy it.
Is the song “Awful Love” from the new record, of which you also did a Latin version, intended in this direction?
Susan Blake: Different situations between men and women, even strange situations, are present in almost all of the songs. I call my genre Dixie-pop because I’m doing a modern version of Dixieland and bringing that music from the 1920s and 1930s into the 21st century. There are also jazz ballads on my new record.
There are already a few young Dixieland bands in Europe, but they mostly play standards; I don’t know of any that fill an entire record with their own songs. Maybe because the audience wants to hear the songs they already know.
You have the new album with the Miskolc Dixieland Band recorded. Will these musicians welcome you at the album presentation? Metropolitan accompany?
Susan Blake: No, I also put together a band from Vienna. At a Dixieland concert in Vienna I saw a trumpeter and a clarinetist playing. I spoke to them and now I’m playing with them. They are more mobile and it would also cost too much Miskolc Dixieland Band to Vienna, Miskolc is located in the north-east of Hungary. Many jazz venues can’t afford thousands of euros for a concert, but I don’t want it to fail because I can play my music.
You took part in the preliminary round – still living in Hungary at the time Eurovisions-Songcontest (ESC) took part. What experiences did you take with you?
Susan Blake: I learned that people are excited when they see my resume Eurovisions-Songcontest read. This is actually bad! The second experience: My points were already set before I came on stage.
The result of the preliminary round was already determined in advance, so was it a set-up game?
Susan Blake: Yes. That was so. I’m not saying that it’s the same here in Austria.
“THE DIXIELAND GENRE IS A NICHE MUSIC, SO YOU WON’T GET ON THE RADIO”
No idea. Maybe it’s better on ESC not to participate?
Susan Blake: No, I found that funny. My publisher has now registered me with “The Big Chance”. Talent shows or the Eurovisions-Songcontest are good references. It’s just funny. Even if you don’t win, people see you. It’s actually bad that the media is so important that you become known. I came second in Voice of the Year in Hungary, people just watch TV and see you. It’s a problem that people think you’re only good if you’re on TV.
The Dixieland genre is niche music, it won’t get you on the radio. And in Hungary I would have become famous long ago if I had gone to bed with one or the other. That’s how it is in Hungary.
What forms of oppression, disadvantage and sexism have you experienced?
Susan Blake: I experienced sexism once more and once more in Hungary. That’s why I really liked Dixieland, because it’s a scene in itself, with a lot of security and a family atmosphere. But in the pop sector, for example, I have experienced: the contract is on the table, then you are kissed off and there is more to it immediately. When I was casting for a musical, I got the lead role, and in this case too I was turned down. Then I said: “Hey, music is sacred to me, I don’t defile music!” I think it’s bad when someone takes advantage of a position of power. I didn’t sign the contract, turned around and left. There have been plenty of situations like this.
How did it go following that? ESC-Preliminaries continue?
Susan Blake: After the preliminary round, I wrote my first own song: “One Man Show”. A Dixieland song, the arranger heard the song more in the direction of country music, these genres are not far apart. And so I went in the country direction, which was well received, but I mightn’t identify with it. This is how the idea came regarding to make albums with our own Dixie songs.
You also took part in talent shows. In this context, I think of Dieter Bohlen, who gave some insulting and hurtful feedback on the show “Deutschland sucht den Superstar”. Would you still recommend that young musicians present themselves in a talent show?
Susan Blake: Yes. Bohlen expresses himself in a straightforward manner, but he is actually right every time. You shouldn’t hurt: music is sacred. However, anyone who faces the audience must expect negative feedback. You have to be very strong. Other audiences are also sometimes tough. Of course, Bohlen is partly hurtful in favor of the quota, because the media needs material at all costs.
“LOVE IS MY FAVORITE TOPIC”
What is a “Love Shock”, that is the title of your new album?
Susan Blake: My first record was called “Love and wait”, the new album is called “Love Shock”. Love is my favorite topic. “Love Shock”, the title track of the new album, is a special song for me. This is a medium paced number that sums up what I need and what people would need too. In my opinion, the world is moving in a neutral direction, feelings are not to be felt there. Everyone withdraws and emotions can hardly be conveyed anymore. We artists have the task of igniting this flame that is still in the heart. For this you need strong emotions, that’s why you need a “love shock”. Not mediocrity, but a shock. Even if it’s explosive, it’s also regarding saying what you think. The song is actually a cry for help to feel values and real love in the face of globalization. I need.
And is that what you generally want to convey with your music?
Susan Blake: Yes, definitely. And Dixieland is perfect for that.
Thank you very much for the interview.
Jürgen Plank
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Susan Blake live:
Fri. September 15, 2023, Metropoldi, Hernalser Hauptstraße 55, 1170 Vienna, 8 p.m
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Links:
Susan Blake
Susan Blake (Facebook)
Jive Music
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